Combined atomizer and suction device



Sept. 4, 1951 H. A. MILLER COMBINED ATOMIZER AND SUCTION DEVICE Filed April 9, 1949 mmvm. Hligh A.M Zler BY j m Patented Sept. 4, 1951 CQMBINED ATOMIZER AND SUCTION DEVICE Hugh A. Miller, Bay Shore, N. Y., assignor to A. C. Bonebralke land .1. Warren Smith, copartn'ers, :doing business (as Vaponefrin Company, Upper Darby, Pa.

Application April 9, 1949, Serial No. 86,580

1 invention relatesgenerally to devices variously named as atomizers, nebulizers or vaporizers, all of which break down a liquid into extremely fine particles premitting their suspension in air. This aerosolization of a liquid may be accomplished by a number of devices commercially available and particularly by the atomizers possessing the structural characteristics revealed in the United States pa ents issued to Curry numbered 2,111,841; 2,274,669 and 2,432,660. My invention is essentially an improvement on the atomizers patented by Curry, but -is readily adaptable to the structural characteristics revealed in such United States patents as numbered "2,329,506 and 2,063,397 granted to Ailes and Paschall respectively and perhaps to other types of atomi-zers commercially available which produce aerosolization of a liquid within a container prior to its application.

For a better understanding of the present invention, it will be here explained that each of the above numbered patents discloses, in general terms, an'atomizer comprising a somewhat globular container designed to retain therein a relatively small'qua-ntity of a selected liquid to be atomized. There are means inside the container whereby liquid may be drawn from the supply, atomized and then blown from the container in almost vaporized form through a radially directed elongated tubular neck which extends from one side. Air under pressure is forced into the container by means of a rubber bulb secured to an air intake nipple positioned opposite to the discharge neck.

An examination of the foregoing patents will reveal that their object is to reduce a liquid into extremely fine particles to an "almost vaporized state so that they will remain suspended in air and readily contact and penetrate the tissue of the area treated thereby inducing easy inhalation and as similation. The device embodying my invention accomplishes this result with any antibiotic in liquid form and, in addition, has the "important function of providing effective means for treating sinusitis; the exact nature of will be forthwith redifli-cult problems has been the combating of in- "iection in the often inaccessible sinus spaced. Penicillin -or other antibiotic 'which is administered locally by drops or irrigations through the nasal passage has not yielded uniform results,

since contact at the site of infection is question- 2 Claims. (Cl. 128-473) able. While acute sinusitis may respond to par- 'Sists its action.

Elt is recognized that c-iliary activity and the natural protective action of the nasal mucous secretions are the basic local defens mechanisms which should be aided rather than affected .adversely by locally applied bacteriostatic agents, such as alkaline solutions which eventually cause a complete cessation of ciliary activity. Thus bacteriostasis, ideally, should be accomplished in an isotonic medium and the use of penicillin or other antibiotic in an aerosolized state presents a new approach in treatment of sinusitis.

It is well recognized that in the effective treatment of chronic and acute Zsinusitis it is not only desirable but essential that the medicament reach the accessory sinuses. It has been ;found that, unless excessive air and mucous secretions have been evacuatedfrom these accessory sinuses, the medicament cannot eiiectively produce the therapeutic result desired. This is particularly important in the administration of penicillin .or other antibiotic which ,is employed .for the treatment of purulent sinusitis andespecially so where these drugs are .aerosolized. Since it has been found that evacuated sinuses can be-effectively treated by penicillin, or other antibiotic in an aerosol state, the particles of which range in size from 0.5 to 2.5 microns in diameter, .it is important to provide a device which will not only carry, under pressure, the penicillin or other ,antibiotic to the sinuses in a fine, voluminous aerosol state in minute particles for effective penetration, but which will also permit the creation of suflic ient negative pressure to evacuate the air and mucous from the sinuses in order that the aerosolized penicillin or other antibiotic can enter the small openings of the sinuses and be absorbed through the extensive surfaces of the air passages and thereafter diffused (in the blood stream and finally excreted in the urine.

The present practice in producing negative pressure in the' accessory sinuses during nasal inhalation of aerosolized penicillin or other antibiotic is to place a Venturi tube in the positive pressure line, which creates the desiredsuction when opened and which receives the required air pressure either from a compressed fluid tank, air pump or rubber bulb. While the re- 'sults' desired are accomplished in this manner, such units, with the exception of the bulb operated unit, are too costly tor average home use and, while the bulb operated unit doesinot have this disadvantage, it doesrequire somewhat aw};-

3 ward handling of the unit for its effective operation.

With the device embodying my invention, the Venturi tube is eliminated and the negative pressure desired is obtained by a standard bulb the valves of which have been reversed so that after pressing the bulb inwardly and then released, a suction efiect is produced when this bulb reshapes itself while seeking its normal contour. This unit eliminates the inherent disadvantages of present type of assemblies.

The principal object of this invention is to provide an atomizer having all the desirable features of the Curry atomizers and perhaps other atomizers commercially available in which a liquid is atomized inside a container and the added feature of providing means for creating a negative pressure within the container when desired in order to evacuate excessive air and mucous secretions from the area in process of treatment.

The quintessence of my invention is to provide a device which is used to introduce, under pressure, a medicament in an aerosol state into the nasal passage and the sinuses to thereby treat the nasal and sinus mucuous membrane, and which is then used to evacuate the excess air and mucous secretions from the sinuses and nasal passage and then repeat the introduction under pressure into the evacuated sinuses, the anti- :vention; wherein the container is equipped with a nipple opening to which a standard rubber bulb is secured but with the valves in the bulb reversed to permit its acting as a suction pump when pressed and thus evacuate the air from the container and in turn from its appurtenant parts and the area being treated.

Other objects of the invention reside in the de- ;tails of construction of the modified rubber bulb I .and in the relationship of the various elements inproducing the desired results.

" p The above and other objects of the invention are disclosed by the details of construction of the preferred form illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side, elevational view of an atomizer embodying the novel features of the present invention; and

Fig. 2 is a side, elevational view, partly in sec- ;tion and partly broken away, of a rubber bulb .with its valves rearranged to permit its use as a suction pump.

" Reference character A designates generally an atomizer of the type commercially available at present and is a substantial reproduction of one of Currys atomizers. It is, of course, to be under- "stood that this disclosure is not intended to rel'strict the use of my invention to it as it may be employed on many other types of atomizers in which a liquid is aerosolized within a container.

Reference character B designates a rubber bulb having well known structural characteristics .and which is employed to provide the required positive pressure for the aerosolization of a liquid in atomizer A. Reference character C represents the general characteristics of a rubber bulb possessing the same structural characteristics as those of bulb B except that the valves herein have been reversed so that it induces instead a negative pressure in atomizer A.

Atomizer A has a flask or container I, globular or otherwise shaped, into which a relatively small volume of the liquid to be atomized may be in serted. Container 1 may be made of glass or other translucent material which is chemically inert, such as certain plastics.

A radially directed, tubular neck 2 of substan-- tial diameter extends from the container and is open at its outer end to form a discharge passage for the easy outflow of the vapor or atomized liquid along with the stream of atomizing air. An air supply injection tube or tapered nozzle 3 extends inwardly into container l at a point diametrically opposite neck 2 and terminates cemtrally of the container. An air supply nipple 4 extends from the container in partial alignment with tube 3. A flexible rubber tube 5, connects the nipple 4 with a rubber bulb B of the well known type adapted to be hand compressed to cause the delivery of air under pressure into the container through the tube 3.

At a location near the inner end of tube 3, a bracket 6 is fixed and which supports a capillary tube 1, positioned so that its lower end is in proximity to the base of the container and immersed in the supply of liquid, and its upper end close to and directly in the path of the compressed air coming from tube 3. By this arrangement the liquid is drawn up through the capillary tube 1 and picked up by the stream of air as delivered from the nozzle toward and into the neck 2.

A bafiie 8, supported from a bracket 9, is positioned in an inclined plane and directly in the path of the stream of mixed air and liquid as delivered from the nozzle across the upper end of and from the capillary tube 1. The air stream, after passing across the upper end of the tube 1, and picking up the liquid supplied thereby, impinges against the surface of the baflie with the result that the liquid is caused to be finely atomized and deflected therefrom in a fan-like spray, appearing as a fog in the container to be carried out through the neck 2 with the outflow of air.

By reason of the direct discharge from the nozzle against the baflle, some of the liquid carried in the air stream is bound to find its w'ay and cling to the side of the baffie facing the discharge neck 2. The supporting bracket 9 prevents this liquid from accumulating on the baflie in large droplets to finally be carried out with the air stream, since its slender form allows the liquid which collects on the baflle to flow downwardly to the supply, and thus no such amount is permitted to collect on the battle that would result in the formation of droplets.

A nipple I0 extend from the top wall of container .l which prevents any tendency in the creation of any vacuum in the container when the same is used for purposes other than the treatment of sinusitis and thereby permits the easy outflow of the aerosolized liquid without causing any swirling of the air in the container.

All of the foregoing structural characteristics are revealed by the Curry patents in some measure and by others as well. However, when it is desired to use the atomizer for the treatment of sinusitis, nipple I0 has a rubber hose I I secured to it and this hose is in turn secured to rubber bulb C. Bulb C has the same Structural features as any other standard rubber bulb such asbulb B.- However, as shown in Figure 2, its spherically actuated valves l2 and I3 are reversed so that when bulb C is compressed the air confined in the bulb is forced out through the opening of valve l3 and no air is permitted to enter into container I since valve [2 is closed. When pressure on bulb C is released, valve 12 is opened and valve 13 is closed, as the rubber bulb seeks to resume its normal globular contour and air is drawn from the interior of container 1 and its appurtenant attached parts (see Fig. 2).

A trap M with a bifurcated tube to form a pair of arms I5 and IE, is secured to discharge neck 2 by means of a rubber hose section 11. Nasal tips l8 and I9 are, in turn, secured to arms I5 and I6 respectively by means of rubber hose sections 20 and 2|. Thus the evacuation of air from the interior of the container by the release of pressure on bulb C also results in drawing air from the foregoing appurtenant parts.

In operating the device embodying my invention the glass trap and nosepieces are held with the left hand and the nasal tips inserted into tight fitting relation with the nostrils. The penicillin is nebulized by squeezing bulb B with the right hand. Four or five compressions of the rubber bulb will deliver the therapeutically optimal amount of air for effective aerosolization of penicillin and fill the nasal cavities and pharynx with this penicillin aerosol. Then as the patient swallows or begins to swallow two or more times bulb C is compressed and, if the tips are held firmly within the nostrils, a subjective sensation of suction is experienced as the nose will be drawn inwardly and usually sufiicient negative pressure is produced in the nose and sinus space by but one reshaping of bulb C. The suction effect thus created removes the excessive air and mucous secretions in the sinus spaces and the residuum enters trap I4. Nebulization of penicillin is again commenced immediately by compression of bulb B and the process is repeated until the therapeutic result desired has been accomplished.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that a device is provided using a simplified technic in which both positive and negative pressures are obtained without resorting to special valve apparatus or Venturi tubes. The principle of evacuation is obtained by intermittent positive pressure by which a fine penicillin aerosol is carried into the sinuses which are then partially evacuated by negative pressure and then replacing this displaced air from the sinuses with penicillin aerosol.

It is not the intent that the invention as claimed should be construed as limited to the atomizing device herein disclosed, since the desired results may be accomplished by using any device wherein the atomization of a liquid is accomplished in a container in which the structural features of the invention is incorporated.

It is, therefore, assumed that only such limitations thereon will be imposed as are within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims, in which,

I claim:

1. An atomizer of the class described comprising a container, a discharge neck radiating from the container, an air injection nozzle extending inwardly into the container in direct alignment with said neck, a capillary tube connected to said air injection nozzle and angularly disposed in relation therewith, with its upper end in contiguous relation with the discharge end of the air injection nozzle, an air intake nipple surrounding the air injection nozzle and extending from the container, a rubber bulb secured to said nipple, a one way valve secured to said bulb, said bulb and valve adapted to force compressed air into said container, and means secured to said container and communicating with the interior thereof for creating a negative pressure within said container, said means comprising a rubber bulb with its spherically actuated valves reversed.

2. An atomizer of the class described comprising a container, a discharge nec'k radiating from the container, a trap secured to said discharge neck, a pair of nasal tips secured to said trap, an air injection nozzle extending inwardly into the container in direct alignment with said neck, a capillary tube connected to said air injection nozzle and angularly disposed in relation therewith, with its upper end in contiguous relation with the discharge end of the air injection nozzle, an air intake nipple surrounding the air injection nozzle and extending from the container, a rubber bulb secured to said nipple and adapted to force compressed air into said container when collapsed, a one way valve in said bulb to allow air to enter therein when permitted to resume its normal shape, a second rubber bulb secured to said container and communicating with the interior thereof, said second bulb having its valves reversed for creating a negative pressure within said container and its appurtenant attachments.

HUGH A. MILLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,266,228 De Vilbiss May 14, 1918 1,323,853 Galligan Dec. 2, 1919 1,839,193 Blanchard Jan. 5, 1932 2,063,397 Paschall Dec. 8, 1936 2,111,841 Curry Mar. 22, 1938 2,329,506 Ailes Sept. 14, 1943 2,485,184 Blackman et a1. Oct. 18, 1949 

